Skip to main content

Russia Bans Sale of S-300 Missiles And Other Weapons to Iran



Russian President  has signed a decree banning the delivery of S-300 air defense systems and a host of other major arms to Iran, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

The ban, which includes battle tanks, armored vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, warplanes, military helicopters, ships and missiles, is part of measures Russia is taking to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1929 of June 9, 2010.

  
Earlier on Wednesday, Chief of the Russian General Staff Army Gen. Nikolai Makarov said Russia would not deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran as planned because such transfers are prohibited under UN sanctions.

Medvedev also banned entry to and transit via Russia for a number of Iranian nationals connected with the country's nuclear program, and banned Russian individuals and legal entities from rendering financial services if the services relate to Iran's nuclear activity.

Russia signed an $800 million contract on delivery to Iran of S-300 systems to equip at least five battalions in late 2007. The contract's implementation had so far been delayed. Experts are considering whether the missiles fall under the sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in June.

The sanctions include a ban on supplies of conventional arms to Iran. According to the document, "states are prohibited from selling or in any way transferring to Iran eight broad categories of heavy weapons (battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems)." However, the S-300 air defense systems are not included in the UN Register of Conventional Arms.

Israel and the United States have voiced concerns over Russia's plans to supply high-precision S-300 systems, capable of destroying aircraft at ranges of 150 km (90 miles) and at altitudes of up to 27 km (17 miles), to Iran. No such systems have been delivered to the Islamic Republic yet.

Commenting on Medvedev's decree to ban the sale of weapons to Iran, Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said: "If this decision was made, it was solely due to Russia's national security."

International pressure on Iran increased in early February when Tehran announced it had begun enriching uranium to 20 percent in lieu of an agreement on an exchange that would provide it with fuel for a research reactor. In June, the UN Security Council passed a resolution imposing a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran currently has some 2.8 metric tons of low enriched uranium and 22 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium, according to the latest IAEA report. Experts say that these 22 kilograms are already enough to produce a nuclear bomb.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF
48 comments
READ MORE

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite
18 comments
READ MORE

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.
23 comments
READ MORE